Cookie Outdoors

I plan to hike the entire 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail starting in mid March 2023 . Over the next 6 months or so, I will walk all day every day carrying about 20lbs of gear (3540 km and 9kg, respectively). I will walk up mountains and through streams, be eaten by bugs and eat too many ramen noodles, and be pushed to the limit in many different ways. A popular motto along the AT is "no pain, no rain, no Maine." I have loved hiking and camping since I was a young Girl Scout. Sleep away summer camp was a huge part of my life for many years as a camper and staff (13, but who's counting). Camp was where I really started to appreciate how time outdoors can lead to personal growth, confidence, and leadership skills that extended beyond those wonderful summer days. At summer camp, I felt like a better version of myself, one who knew a lot of technical skills, could be loud and in charge as needed, sang A LOT of off key camp songs, and had a calm head in a stressful si

While I hike solo most often, I'm part of several hiking groups, including very local ones and some that are chapters in larger organizations. There are groups for women only or 20s and 30s. Some groups have very active retirement-age members. Intensity and location can vary, often by who is leading a particular trip. In addition to group trips, hiking groups can be great resources for  trips locally or far away, trail conditions, and inspiration from queries like "great place when mountain laurel is blooming." Requisite photo of mountain laurel, the state flower of Pennsylvania One such group, Hiker babes, really encourages members to share trip reports as you complete their challenges. The original one is the "100 hikes challenge," which is an open-ended task to hike 100 times. How far is a hike? Do paved paths count? If my loop uses two different trails in the same trip, is that 1 hike or 2? Only you can answer for yourself 😊. There are monthly c

Rhode Island has woods, too  So it's been quite a while since I've done any non-technical writing. I'm using these early posts as warm-ups and ways to show off my collection of previous hiking photos. When I tell outdoors-y people that I live in Rhode Island (at time of writing in February 2023), they're generally surprised. This smallest state is generally ignored by everyone outside of New England and is known for beaches and coastline. Other local hikers are quick to point out the collection of trails within a short drive, which to born-and-bred Rhode Islanders is often no more than 20 minutes. As the 2nd most densely populated state behind New Jersey, undeveloped land is hard to find in Rhode Island, and it is not very big. I spent an afternoon searching AllTrails for a distance greater than 10 miles and struggled to find much. To be fair, the largest state property--Arcadia Management Area--is not well mapped on paper, signs, blazes, or in AllTrails. Either way, wh